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MSU Must Show Cause Why Accreditation Should Not Be Yanked
On the heels of news that a former nurse anesthesia student has filed a federal lawsuit against Mountain State University alleging a litany of unacceptable practices, incompetence and bizarre behavior on the part of the faculty, comes the news that the Board of Trustees of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) believes the school may not meet the criteria for continued general accreditation. If this is the case the future of the University is in jeopardy.
HLC is an independent corporation and one of two commission members of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), which is one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. The Higher Learning Commission accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the North Central region.
The HLC met on June 23 and determined that one or more criteria for accreditation were not being met by MSU, specifically as they pertain to specialized accreditation of their nursing program and outcome monitoring. The concerns were listed in the following areas:
• Criterion One, “the institution operates with integrity to ensure the fulfillment of its mission through structures and processes that involve the board, administration, faculty, staff, and students,” particularly Core Component 1.d, “the institution’s governance and administrative structures promote effective leadership and support collaborative processes that enable the institution to fulfill its mission,” because of issues related to shared governance, administrative structures, and provision of information to students;
• Criterion Two, “the institution’s allocation of resources and its processes for evaluation and planning demonstrate its capacity to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its education, and respond to future challenges and opportunities,” particularly Core Component 2.b, “the institution’s resource base supports its educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future,” because of issues related to the loss of specialized accreditation and the monitoring of program outcomes; and
• Criterion Three, “the institution provides evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness that demonstrates it is fulfilling its educational mission,” particularly Core Component 3.d, “the institution’s learning resources support student learning and effective teaching,” because of issues related to faculty resources, library resources, and shared governance.
As a result the HLC issued an order that MSU submit a “Show Cause” report by December 1, detailing why accreditation should not be revoked. The HLC will be sending an evaluation team to MSU no later than February 2012 and will rule on the status of MSU’s accreditation at its June 2012 meeting. MSU remains an accredited institution during this time.
The issuance of the show-cause order is directly linked to the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission withdrawing its accreditation of the MSU nursing program. In addition, the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses also provided notification that MSU had been placed on provisional status with its agency.
Show-Cause is a procedural order issued by the Commission that places the burden on an institution of demonstrating that it meets each of the Criteria for Accreditation and related Core Components. An institution that cannot prove to the Commission within no more than one year of the issuance of the Order that it meets the Criteria for Accreditation and Core Components and has ameliorated the concerns leading to the issuance of the Order faces withdrawal of accreditation.
Mountain State University must present its case for accreditation by means of a Show-Cause Report that provides substantive evidence that the University has ameliorated each concern identified by the Board of Trustees as detailed in the Commission action letter to the University, and that it meets each of the Criteria for Accreditation and Core Components. This Show-Cause Report must include documents related to administration and governance; resources and planning; and effectiveness of learning resources.
The Order clearly states that “Mountain State University must post this Order prominently on its Web site; inform its Board, administrators, faculty, staff, students, and prospective students of this Order; and disclose the existence of this Order whenever an interested party inquires about the institution’s accredited status“. But Law Med searched high and low and could not find the order posted on the MSU website or even a mention of it. See if you can. Their School of Nursing page on accreditation is HERE.
Read the Order below.
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[...] recently reported on another nursing program at Mountain State University who lost accreditation from NLNAC for their BSN program. In that case [...]
[...] The university has been ordered to show cause why it should not lose accreditation as we also recently reported. [...]